The Baptism of the Lord gives me a chance to talk about our modern-day ritual of Baptism. I want to look at each of the items that we use for Baptism and explain the spiritual meaning that is behind each item.
We begin with the Bible. We read the story from Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus welcomes the little children. In the Sacrament of Baptism our spirit is the spirit of welcome: We welcome the child into God’s family.
The next item is water. In our daily lives we use water for cleansing and for drinking. We cannot live unless we have water. In Baptism, original sin is washed away and we are filled with the life-giving life of Christ. The deacon or priest uses the words of Jesus in Matthew 28: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
We also use the Holy Oil which is called Sacred Chrism. Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit when he was baptized and the child is anointed with the Sacred Chrism to signify the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
The Easter Candle is always part of the ritual because Easter meant New Life for Jesus and Baptism means New Life for the child that is being baptized. The child is wearing a white garment because white is the color of Easter.
Finally, we have holy water at the doors of the church that we can use to commemorate our baptism. We say these words from the Baptism ritual as we make the Sign of the Cross: In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Baptism is a ritual within our Catholic Church and when Jesus was a child, his parents handed on to him the rituals of their religion. That meant that they participated in the annual pilgrimage festivals of Judaism. They made a spiritual journey to Jerusalem three times each year: for Passover, for Pentecost and for Tabernacles.
The Passover ritual consisted of sharing a special meal of Unleavened Bread. This sacred meal helped them to remember how God had helped them to get away from the Pharaoh and pass over from slavery to freedom.
The Pentecost festival was 50 days later. The Pentecost ritual was a covenant renewal ceremony. During this ceremony, the people recommitted themselves to their covenant relationship with God and remembered how God had initiated this covenant at the top of Mount Sinai.
The feast of Tabernacles came at the end of September. Tabernacle is a fancy word for tent. During this festival the people lived in tents to remind themselves of how God had protected their ancestors when they were living in tents for 40 years in the Sinai desert.
Why did Jesus and his relatives participate in these rituals? Because they needed them. They needed to go through these rituals every year so that they could remember what God had done for them and what God is continuing to do for them. Each ritual is a window which helps people see what God is doing in our world.
After Jesus left home, he continued to practice the religion which had been handed on to him. He went to the Temple three times each year to participate in the sacred rituals. He also went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Why? Because he wanted a ritual experience of God’s grace. His baptism in the Jordan River helped him to experience the cleanliness and the new lease on life that people feel when God washes away their sins.
Without any advance warning, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit came down to bless him. When a voice came from heaven with these words: “You are my Son. I love you.” This ritual turned out to be more powerful than anyone had expected.
God the Holy Spirit and God the Father both used this ritual to bless Jesus and send him on his mission.
Now I want to look at the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. Why? Because they are powerful rituals; rituals which reveal what God is doing; rituals which bring us a blessing from the Holy Spirit and a powerful message from God. Just as Jesus needed to participate in ritual ceremonies, we need them in order to have a window on what God is doing in our lives.
In the Sacrament of Baptism, the Holy Spirit blesses us and God says, “I have called you and I am making you a member of my family.”
In the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit blesses us and God the Father says, “I give you strength for your Christian journey.”
When we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Spirit blesses us and God the Father says, “I love you and I welcome you to my Banquet of Love.”
When we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Spirit blesses us and God the Father says, “I forgive your sins and I ask you to sin no more.”
In the Sacrament of Anointing, the Holy Spirit blesses us and God the Father says, “I bring you healing for your soul, healing for your mind and healing for your body.”
In the Sacrament of Holy Orders, God says to the newly ordained, “I call you to serve the faith community and I anoint you to be a leader of prayer for my people.”
In the Sacrament of Matrimony, the Holy Spirit blesses the newly married couple, and God the Father says, “I call you to a covenant of love; a love which is unconditional, a love which will never end.”
I will close by asking us to think about the rituals which Jesus celebrated: in the City of Jerusalem and in the Jordan River. Each ritual was a window showing him what God was doing in his life.
And let’s think about our sacramental rituals. They are very important for our spiritual lives because they show us what God is doing for us: God is loving us, forgiving us and healing us and giving us strength for our spiritual journey.
Let’s keep our eyes fixed on what God is doing. Whenever we celebrate the sacraments of our church let’s keep our eyes fixed on what God is doing.
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